An artist rendition of the Dorion Family Pediatric Center at the Mandarin campus of Community Hospice and Palliative Care. | Community Hospice & Palliative Care
Published on February 5, 2025 at 3:30 pm
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A new center to help children with serious illnesses is now under construction at Mandarin’s Community Hospice & Palliative Care headquarters on Sunbeam Road.
Ground was broken Tuesday on the 8,300-square-foot Dorion Family Pediatric Center, which will fhelp children deal with complex medical conditions, as well as help their families work through their deaths.
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The hospice foundation has raised just over $6.6 million of the $10 million cost for a facility named after Dottie Dorion, one of the early founding members of what was known as Hospice of Northeast Florida.
As of 2023, statistics show that hospice’s Community PedsCare staff worked with an average 266 pediatric patients a day with serious illnesses.
“PedsCare currently does not have a dedicated space that is pediatric friendly or exclusively for the program. This limits some of the therapies and activities that can be offered,” the center said. “Over the past year, our child life therapy team logged more than 900 hours driving to patients’ homes. The Dorion Center will help reduce these hours so that more time can be dedicated to patient care. In addition, it will give families a choice about where to receive care.“
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Community volunteers founded the hospice in 1979. It has grown to serve more than 215,000 adults and children in 16 counties in Northeast and North Central Florida.
Mandarin’s Hadlow Center For Caring was the first of eight facilities it operates. Its programs include PedsCare, which provides hospice and palliative care services to children up to age 21.
Hospice officials say the new Dorion center, in the courtyard of the Hadlow Center on Sunbeam Road, will improve outcomes for pediatric patients and their families while expanding access to care for children living with complex illnesses.
The facility is set to open in the spring of 2026. It will include a therapeutic play room done in soft colors and lighting to reduce anxiety and overstimulation. There will be a gathering area where family members can reflect, or gather for activities.
Young patients will have a therapy and arts room to work with their siblings, as well as a music therapy area to help develop motor and language skills and manage their emotions. There also will be a family bereavement support center.
Major donors contributing to the $10 million facility so far include The Petway Family Foundation, Delores Barr Weaver Legacy Funds and the Jim and Tabitha Furyk Foundation.
